You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 

1 John 4:4 (The New American Standard Bible)


 

A New Beginning

            I can feel it in the air—fall is a commin’-- a season for renewal, and hope for a better life. And yet, many are experiencing unwanted new beginnings because of the COVID. The unfamiliar is unsettling. In the following story, Jack tells his experience of standing on the precipice with a young man wanting to resist moving forward. All names have been changed.

            In my work with a group of people with alcoholism, I struck up a bond with a young man I’ll call Till. He talked a lot about that fact that since being a teenager he’d been in trouble with the law. Finally, a judge realized Till’s problem was the illness of alcoholism and sent him to this state-of-the-art facility with the agreement that in order to avoid more jail time, he had to complete the program. My last night to work there coincided with Till’s last night. By 5:00 the next afternoon, he would be free to leave. Knowing this, I was shocked when he walked up to me and said, “I’m leaving in two hours. My brother is on his way to pick me up.”

            Though taken by surprise, a strong feeling persisted that if I could extract a promise from Till that he wouldn’t leave, he wouldn’t. With resolve to do what it took I replied, “You can’t do that. You’re almost over the finish line. Don’t go!”

            “I can’t stand it any longer. I’m leaving.”

            “Till, man, think about this. In 20 hours, you walk out of here a free man facing no jail time. This time tomorrow night this place will be a memory.”

            “Maybe so, but I’m not staying. My brothers on his way.”

            The conversation went back and forth. Whether to get me off his back or if he saw the light, I’ll never know, but Till promised to complete the program and he kept his word.

            Jack played a huge part in Till’s life. In wondering what happened to the young man, I had the following conversation with Jack.

            “Wow, impressive. You helped to give Till a new beginning.”

            “Truthfully, for years I did take credit for this, but with time and, hopefully wisdom, I realize that the knowing that he would stay if he promised and any sound words of argument I gave were all empowered by the Holy Spirit. My part in this drama was to be an instrument of God, and that’s okay. Wouldn’t trade the experience of standing on the ledge with someone and talking him back.”

            “What happened to Till?”

            “Don’t have a clue. Never saw him again; hopefully, he took this opportunity and turned his life around.”  

            “We both know, Jack, that there is a euphoria with new beginnings but that joy does not guarantee success. If Till called you and said, okay, I’m starting over, what do I do now? What would you say?”

            Jack became animated and without hesitation, said, “I would tell him four things:”

1.     Till’s god has been the bottle. He needs another one and I would tell him to ask Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of his life and to seek after Him with the same commitment he’d given to alcohol and all of the consequences that came with it. Along with this new way of life would be other considerations.

2.    The pull of alcohol will be with Till for a long time, maybe forever in some form. He would need to go to AA and learn how to live with that problem.”

3.    Not to fear success. Till’s decision to leave the program early is indicative of someone who identifies with messing up. As much as all of us might want a better future, when faced with having to make a change, often it’s easier to resume old habits that lead us back into the known, even if it’s destructive.

4.    Carefully examine why he stayed in trouble. Alcohol was the obvious culprit, but there were others. The fact that his brother was willing to help Till leave the program early, told me Till’s role in the family, and/or in the town, was to be the loser. We are made in God’s image, so being a loser should not be anyone’s job.  He was going to have to be willing to surround himself with people he could emulate, maybe those who would help mentor him, and those who wanted to see him succeed.

Oh, and then I would remind him that life is a journey. When we get off the track and make mistakes, Jesus forgives; when we are wronged, we forgive, but to get to the desired outcome, we must stay the path and just keep on walking.”

Thought: Wow, that was a sobering interview. Now I think, Fall is a commin’. I wonder where it will take us?

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13 (New King James Version)

 

           

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